Education spending in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Education spending was 5.31 in 2023. ▲ Rising
Education spending in Costa Rica, 1980–2023
Source: Our World in Data.
Analysis
Costa Rica recorded 5.31 for education spending in 2023.
That represents a change of down 4.2% on the previous year and down 20.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, education spending in Costa Rica peaked at 7.35 in 1980 and was at its lowest, 3.35, in 1995.
That places Costa Rica 48th out of 199 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 32 years of available data.
Education spending in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 7.35 | — |
| 1982 | 4.89 | -33.5% |
| 1983 | 4.96 | +1.5% |
| 1986 | 4.42 | -10.8% |
| 1988 | 4.01 | -9.2% |
| 1989 | 4.08 | +1.6% |
| 1995 | 3.35 | -17.8% |
| 1996 | 3.89 | +16.0% |
| 1999 | 5.39 | +38.6% |
| 2000 | 4.67 | -13.5% |
| 2001 | 4.83 | +3.5% |
| 2002 | 5.15 | +6.6% |
| 2003 | 5.13 | -0.3% |
| 2004 | 4.89 | -4.7% |
| 2006 | 4.62 | -5.6% |
| 2007 | 4.63 | +0.4% |
| 2008 | 4.89 | +5.4% |
| 2009 | 6.01 | +23.0% |
| 2010 | 6.57 | +9.2% |
| 2011 | 6.38 | -2.8% |
| 2012 | 6.58 | +3.2% |
| 2013 | 6.69 | +1.6% |
| 2014 | 6.68 | -0.1% |
| 2015 | 6.87 | +2.9% |
| 2016 | 6.89 | +0.3% |
| 2017 | 7.07 | +2.6% |
| 2018 | 6.77 | -4.2% |
| 2019 | 6.74 | -0.5% |
| 2020 | 6.63 | -1.6% |
| 2021 | 6.25 | -5.7% |
| 2022 | 5.55 | -11.2% |
| 2023 | 5.31 | -4.2% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 5.31 is above the median for high income countries, which is 4.4, 1.2× the median. (72 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 5.31 is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 4.06, 1.3× the median. (39 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Education spending in Costa Rica changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | +38.6% | 3.89 | 5.39 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 4.95 | 4.01 | 7.35 | 6 |
| 1990s | 4.21 | 3.35 | 5.39 | 3 |
| 2000s | 4.98 | 4.62 | 6.01 | 9 |
| 2010s | 6.72 | 6.38 | 7.07 | 10 |
| 2020s | 5.93 | 5.31 | 6.63 | 4 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
More education data for Costa Rica
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 95.16 (2024)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 95.51 (2024)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 37,015 (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 14,772 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 62,694 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 61,047 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 464,490 (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 460,126 (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -3.03 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is education spending in Costa Rica?
- Education spending in Costa Rica was 5.31 in 2023, according to Our World in Data.
- What is the highest education spending recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 7.35 in 1980.
- What is the lowest education spending recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.35 in 1995.
- How does Costa Rica rank for education spending?
- Costa Rica ranks 48th out of 199 countries with data for 2023.
- Is education spending rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 20.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from Our World in Data, published as part of Education spending. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 32 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).